from 2 Peter 1:1-11
If you could control anything what would it be? Time? Distractions? The weather?
What about yourself? What about those things that might be a distraction or a hindrance to experiencing, enjoying, and living in the fullness of life with Christ? What about those things that hinder and harm relationship with others, or those things that affect how you feel about YOU?
Imagine how your day or your week might begin to look different if you took seriously Peter’s words that one of the results of our faith in Jesus should be self-control.
w/ Vern Collins
from Psalm 27
Eugene Peterson speaks of the Christian journey as a, “long obedience in the same direction,” and is quick to note that this world does not encourage such a view of anything, much less Christianity. Impatience marks our interactions with others and with the world around us…and has seeped into our walk with Jesus.
And yet, Paul is clear: patience is meant to be one of the characteristics that marks our identity as Christ-followers. With situations that we want to get to the other side of, or people with whom we have little patience, how is it that we can cultivate this fruit that exemplifies God’s attitude toward us?
What if instead of pursuing a hundred little things (most of which we grow impatient with), you spent the remainder of your lifetime pursuing the One Thing that can change your perspective?
w/ Vern Collins
from John 14:22-31
What keeps you awake at night? What makes you nervous or anxious? Is it a relationship, concern for a loved one? Is it the state of the world right now, or our country?
How do you navigate that anxiety or unrest? Where do you turn? Do you just hope to survive it, or are you willing to believe that God is present in it? Imagine how things might begin to change if you believed that not only was God present in your worry, but offers you peace in the midst of it.
w/ Vern Collins
from Habakkuk 3:17-19
In our series on the Fruit of the Spirit (from Galatians 5:22-25) we look next at the fruit of “Joy.”
What is joy to you? Is it an intense feeling? Is it momentary or is it lasting? Is it the same as happiness or different? Is it some religious outburst or something that resides quietly within?
What if joy were all and none of these things? What if a response of joy had more to do with trusting God whatever your circumstances and offering a response of rejoicing as a result of that trust? How might your perspective on this life change of you chose a response of joy in the midst of trials? How might the lives around you be changed?
w/ Vern Collins
from Galatians 5:1, 13-25
This week begins an 8 week series looking at the Fruit of the Spirit Paul points to in his letter to the church in Galatia.
Living in the freedom that Christ offers is meant to look like something…the question is, are you living free or are you bound by things that have taken control in your life. To live freely means that God is able to bring things from you that are produced by the Life that is in you…imagine how different things could be!
w/ Vern Collins
from Matthew 28:16-20
In our final week of our “Church” series, we are challenged with the work that the church was tasked with: making disciples.
What if making disciples weren’t the terrifying thing we believe it to be? What if making disciples wasn’t about forcing something on people? What if making disciples was not about what you do, but about who you become? What if making disciples was simply rooted in relationship?
It can be. And God can do amazing things in and through you simply by a willingness to say, “yes.”
w/ Vern Collins
Scripture – Acts 20:17-35
We have to trust that God will restore all things that need to be fixed. He is the great redeemer, and should remain captive to his will.
w/ Luke Edwards
Scripture – Acts 17:1-9
In the past, the world was turned upside down by the proclamation of Christ. It conflicted with the proclamation of Caesar. However, two Lords of opposite virtue cannot coexist. We must choose which of the Lords in out lives we serve.
w/ Reed McNitzky
Scripture – Acts 13:1-3
At times, we may think that we can save ourselves with the tools provided to us; however the right step may be to simply ask for help. We ask and seek help when we are lost and don’t know what to do, but it first takes realizing we’re lost.
w/ Ben Fitzgerald
from Scripture: Acts 9:1-19
Despite our best intentions to do the right thing, we don’t always get it right. We sometimes tend to do more harm than good. God has to remind us that His plan for the world is to draw all people to Christ…
w/ Jeff McClain
from Scripture: Acts 7:54 – 8:1
“Is it our best self that becomes the testimony to God? Or is it the place where you are dark and lost and now are found and known and loved?”…
w/ Reed McNitzky
from 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Have you ever struggled under the weight of wondering whether or not you measure up? Have you ever struggled with feeling like you just don’t have what it takes? Have you given yourself over to people or things in order to try and be seen as worthy, or acceptable?
If any of things are or ever have been true, then know that God does not measure you by the standards the world measures, and God is not looking for the same things in you the world is demanding.
God looks beyond the measurable and looks to the heart…and when you begin to embrace that truth, not only does it change the way you approach God, but it changes the way you approach challenges and the world around you.
w/ Vern Collins
from Ruth 4:13-22
Almost as an intermission between the story of Israel’s judges and the beginning of the time of her kings is the brief account of a woman named Ruth.
While this may not only seem like a strange placement for such a story, but also a curious addition to what we hold as Scripture, it is one of the most beautiful pictures of faithfulness we have in all of the Bible.
Not only does Ruth paint for us a picture of what undying faithfulness looks like, but challenges in the attention and compassion we give to those around us.
In the midst of your every day coming and going, triumphs and even struggles, are you paying attention to the lives of the hurting around you…and are you willing to enter in to them?
w/ Vern Collins
from Daniel 3
If someone asked you Who God is, how would you answer that question? How would you describe God to the world around you?
Particularly now when this world is hurting, when so many questions surround the acts of hate and violence that seem so prevalent…what would you tell this world about who God is? How would you describe God?
What if it wasn’t an explanation that this world needed, rather an introduction?
Do you know God in a way that you would allow you to introduce God to this world?
w/ Vern Collins
from Genesis 6:5-22
In week 3 of our “More to the Story” series, we look at one of the most well known stories in all of Scripture…the story of Noah. While there are any number of questions surrounding this account of Noah’s building of the ark and God’s bringing of the flood, we find that there is a questions posed to us…
In this world where we might say (save for a promise and a rainbow) we’re probably due for another wiping of the slate…what if in looking back at the account of Noah, we begin to see it, not as an issue of morality, but one of theology…does creation still allow God to be God? Does humanity still allow God to be God? Are you, in your life, allowing God to be God?
w/ Vern Collins
from 2 Timothy 4:1-8
If someone were to observe the way you use your time, what would that tell them about your priorities in life? Too often, the way we use time is not an accurate reflection of what is important to us because much of our time is often dictated by others…employers, educators, children, parents, even friends.
Rather than allow ourselves to become frustrated when time doesn’t play out the way we hope, what if we began to see our time less about what we can acquire, accumulate, and accomplish and more about how we can leverage it for the sake of the Gospel?
w/ Vern Collins
from 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Think about the amount of time you spend ensuring that you, “measure up,” in the eyes of those around you. Whether it is in the work place, in your relationships with others, as a student…or simply in the things you pursue.
We don’t want to be found lacking…we don’t want to be seen as weak…we often answer the question, “how are you doing?” with, “fine,” regardless of how we might be hurting.
Paul offers us encouragement in what just might be possible if we are willing to embrace our weakness rather than avoid it…perhaps we just might find that God becomes all the more powerful, loving, and full of grace if we are willing to offer Him those parts of us that we would hide from the rest of the world.
w/ Vern Collins
from Romans 1:1-17
What drives you? That question is best answered with the question, “what day is it?” Simply put-what drives us is often determined by the season in life, the predicament, or the circumstance in which we find ourselves. It is determined by the life we seek for ourselves or the goals we have in front of us.
What if all of those things were filtered through a central driving force? What if your life were driven by the Gospel of Christ? What if it informed and determined everything else that drives you?
Week 2 in our series on Paul considers a life “set apart for the Gospel of Christ.”
w/ Vern Collins
